Teen bodies are as malleable as their minds. The athletes hone specialized muscle sets, the musicians develop specialized postures, and the gamer cultivates a head-forward stance. These activity-driven postural habits can stay with them life; responding to them with yoga can help teens develop healthier and more balanced bodies.
Yoga counters repetitive influences and helps teens develop balanced strength, flexibility and grace -- the athlete will perform better and avoid injuries, and the musicians and computer whizzes avoid repetitive-use conditions.
I started teaching yoga for teens at Linus Pauling Middle School in 2004. I taught in a special classroom for teens who could not control their behavior in a normal classroom setting. For this group, the relaxation pose was the most challenging yoga pose of all.
We practiced yoga together once a week throughout the school year. We did everything from handstands and forward bends to lotus pose and wheel pose. Each found poses they excelled at, and each found poses that were a struggle. Some days we had the mat room with its padded flooring and walls to tumble about in. Some days we were in the classroom and did yoga in the narrow space between desks.
After the first month or so, I noticed the teens were choosing to wear more appropriate clothing on yoga days: sweat pants instead of skinny jeans. They looked forward to yoga days. Over the course of the year, the physical and mental exercises helped them learn to focus their minds. The breathing exercises taught them how to remain calm in stressful situations. By the end of the year they could rest in relaxation pose for a full five minutes, occasionally even relaxing enough to fall asleep.
Teens lead stressful lives. They are pushed to excel and seduced to misbehave. They are tossed about on a sea of change, in their bodies, their lives and their communities. Bethany Carlson, a regular at the local teen yoga class says, “Attending teen yoga provided a non-stressful way for me to exercise and stay flexible after I stopped taking ballet. I’ve always been a tense person and relaxation requires conscious effort. Yoga was a great way to relax both mentally and physically from the stresses of school and relationships.”
There are lots of opportunities for teens to practice yoga in Corvallis, from health clubs to yoga studios. Teen Yoga class is offered free each Thursday, 4:15-5:15pm at Live Well Studio, 971 NW Spruce. Other free yoga opportunities can be found on the Reach Out Yoga website: reachoutyoga.org.
Lisa Wells, PhD, teaches yoga and dance at Live Well Studio in Corvallis, Oregon. You can read more of her writings on yoga at livewellstudio.com/blog-videos
